If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Islamic State militants have destroyed Palmyra's ancient Temple of Baalshamin, Syrian officials and activists say.Syria's head of antiquities was quoted as saying the temple was blown up on Sunday. The UK -based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that it happened a month ago.IS took control of Palmyra in May, sparking fears for the site.It is considered one of the ancient world's most important cultural centres.The ancient city, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, is famed for its well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins, and the Baalshamin temple, built nearly 2,000 years ago, is one of the city's best-known buildings.The Islamic State group has destroyed several ancient sites in Iraq. The militants believe any shrines or statues implying the existence of another deity are sacrilege and idolatry, and should be destroyed.

Image caption

Palmyra is a large site, visited by millions

Image caption

The oldest parts of the Baalshamin temple dated to the 1st Century AD

Image caption

Palmyra sits in the desert, some 200km (125 miles) north-east of the Syrian capital, Damascus

Image caption

Many smaller statues and artefacts were moved from the city before it fell to IS

IS "placed a large quantity of explosives in the temple of Baalshamin today [Sunday] and then blew it up causing much damage to the temple," Syrian antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told AFP news agency.

"The cella (inner area of the temple) was destroyed and the columns around collapsed," he said.Emma Loosley, a professor at Exeter University who lived near the ancient city for three years, said the temple's cella was "pretty much perfect"."I can't think of another temple as beautifully preserved as the temple of Baalshamin, and what was special about Palmyra was that it was a unique culture," she told the BBC."It had its own gods, its own form of art and architecture that you don't get anywhere else."